Pay-off reel



March 23, 1954 w, w 5 2,673,045

PAY- OFF REEL Filed May 29, 1951 Inventor: Mm? P. (1445,

Patented Mar. 23, 1954 UNITED STATE PAY-OFF REEL- Wilder P. Lewis, East Haven,Conn., assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application May 29, 1951, Serial No. 228,919

This invention relates to a pay-off reel and more particularly to a reel for supporting coils of wire which are to be fed to a processing machine such as a spooler. Reels of this general type are in common use but they all have various disadvantages. For example, the tension applied to the wire as it is being unwound may vary, the wire may kink or become snarled when the spooling mechanism is stopped. The size of coil which can be handled and the speed of the pay-ofi reel are limited.

It is an object of my invention to provide a simple pay-on reel which can handle large coils of wire at high speeds.

This and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure l is a top plan view of my device;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view; and

Figures 3 and 4 are fragmentary sectional views showing details of my device.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference numeral 2 indicates the base plate of the pay-oif reel. The base 2 is preferably mounted on four legs 4. Spaced angle brackets 6 are fastened to the underside of the base 2 for supporting a sheave 8 which is mounted on shaft Ii}. A plurality of bars l2 are fastened to and extend upwardly from the base 2 and are welded around the periphery of a hub M to form the reel block l5. A bearing I6 is mounted in the hub I l and held in place by means of a plate iii. A shoulder or horizontal bearing surface 253 is provided at the top of the hub M for a purpose which will be explained later. A central opening 22 is arranged in the plate 2 directly beneath the opening in the bearings Hi and substantially in line with the sheave B. A U-shaped tubular guide 24 has one leg passing through these aligned openings with its lower end extending for a short distance through the plate. A collar 26 is fastened to this leg and bears against the top of bearing It, thus holding the U-shaped member in position. The other leg extends to the outside of the block [5. A tungsten carbide guide 28 is preferably mounted in the lower end of the U-shaped member. A standard take-off mechanism 30 is provided adjacent the machine for pulling the wire from the reel.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The U-shaped member 24 is removed by pulling it upwardly out of the opening in the bearing and a coil of wire W is placed on the reel and its ends freed. A hold-down ring or plate 4 Claims.. (Cl. 242-428) 32 is then placed on top of the coil W around the reel, after which the starting end of the coil is threaded outside of the hold-down ring 32 through the tungsten carbide guide 28 and through both legs of U-shaped member 24. The ring 32 may be provided with lugs which engage the bars I2 to prevent rotary movement of thering. U-shaped member 24 is placed in position through the bearing I6 and hole 22 as shown. The wire ispulled around the sheave 8 to thetake-up mechanism 30 from whence it is taken to the processing equipment such as spooler (not shown). The hold-down ring 32 provides a uniform back tension on the wire as it is pulled from the reel.

For larger coils of wire a reel block 34 of larger diameter having a hub shaped to fit over the hub hi and rest on the shoulder 2|] may be provided as shown in Figure 3. Holes may be provided in the plate 2 to receive the lower part of the rods making up the block and thus prevent rotation thereof. For still larger coils an additional reel block 36 is placed over block 34 as shown in Figure 4.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A reel for uncoiling coils of wire comprising a base plate, a block fastened to and extending upwardly from said base plate for receiving a coil of wire, a bearing mounted in the top of said block and having a vertical opening therein, a horizontal bearing surface on the upper part of said block said base plate having an opening therein aligned with the opening in said bearing, a tubular U-shaped member having a central leg passing through and rotatably mounted in said aligned openings and the other leg extending downwardly on the outside of said block to a point adjacent said coil, a collar fastened to.

said first leg and bearing on the top of said bearing surface to support said U-shaped member, said wire passing from said coil through the; outer leg of said U-shaped member and down-- wardly through the central leg of said U-shaped member.

2. A reel for uncoiling coils of wire comprisinga base plate, a block fastened to and extending upwardly from said base plate for receiving a coil of wire, a bearing mounted in the top of said block and having a vertical opening therein, a horizontal bearing surface on the upper part and means for pulling said wire from said coil 1 through said U-shaped member and around .said 1 sheave.

3. A reel for uncoiling coils of wire comprising a base plate, a block fastened to and extending upwardly from said base plate for receiving a coil upwardly from said base plate for receiving a coil of wire, a hold-down ring surrounding said block and adapted to rest on top of said coil, a bearing mounted in the top of said block and having a vertical opening therein, said base plate having an opening therein aligned with the opening in said bearing, a tubular U-shaped member having oneleg passing through and rotatably mounted in said aligned openings and .the other leg extending downwardly on the outside of said block to a point adjacent said coil, a sheave mounted beneath said base plate, and means for pulling said wire from said coil through said U- lshapedmemberandaround said sheave.

of wire, a hold-down ring surrounding ;-said block :and adapted to rest on top of said coil, a bearing :mounted in the top of said block and having a vertical opening therein, said base plate having n op i ther i ia ned with the open n in sa d b i a tubu a U-As a ed-m m havin a en a e pa i h ug and I rotatably mounted in said aligned openings and the other leg extending downwardlyon theoutside of said block to a point adjacent said coil, said Wire passing from said coil through the outer leg of said U-shaped membertand downwardly through the centralleg of said U-shapedmember.

4. A reel for :uncoilingcoils of wire comprising a base plate; a block --fastened to and extending WILDER P. LEWIS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 554,226 White et a1. Feb. 4, 1896 1,137,133 Hamelback Apr. 27,1915 1,459,763 Brown-et a1 June26, 1923 1,677,167 'Borgeson July 17, 1928 1,995,041 Pool et al. Mar. 19, 1935 2,286,460 Brown June 16,1942 2,353,651" (Jolson July-l8, 1944 2,390,157 Kramer Dec. 4, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country ,Date

341,314 Great :Britain' Jan. -15, 193 1 

